I had PS860's on the car and had good use out of them. Did not notice any tread noise. This time I put PS850's on the front and they sing like snow tires. Will need to replace back tires also, so I'll move the 850's to the rear and put something with less tread noise on the front.
My question is -- where would I find a tire noise rating?
Looking at the treads on each, does it look like the 850's would be noisier? I don't want to put 860's on and find out they are just as noisy. Primewell PS830/850 $55 Specs:
y tread noise. This time I put PS850's on the front and they sing like sno w tires. Will need to replace back tires also, so I'll move the 850's to the rear and put something with less tread noise on the front.
er? I don't want to put 860's on and find out they are just as noisy.
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Not for nothing, but I had never heard of Primewell Tires and when Tire Rac k didn't list them, I got curious. A deeper search indicates that they are Firestone's store brand.
As far as I can tell the best you are going to get from the Primewell (or F irestone) website is this, which is basically nothing:
"Feature: Advanced variable pitch tread depth Benefit: Promotes quiet and smooth ride under high speed driving conditions"
On the other hand, Tire Rack actually gives the tires that they carry a noise rating, which can be used to compare various models of tires.
I'm not saying that Tire Rack is the best place to buy tires from, but they do have a lot of good information on their website and their CSR's seem to be pretty knowledgeable. The problem with Tire rack is that once you add shipping and install costs to the price of the tires, you can often do better by shopping at a tire store that provides a single out-of-the-door price. I'm not against paying a little extra if I use the info I find on a website, but sometimes that "little extra" turns into a lot. At that point, I just steal the information while feeling a little guilty. ;-)
I have also read that you can often get the same quality tire for a better price if you avoid store brands. The main problem is that it's tough to do a fair comparison, because store brands don't always publish all the specs that you need to do a thorough comparison. For that reason alone, I would avoid store brands since I can't really determine what I'm getting for my money.
As they should. The speed rating is chosen for a reason, to assure you get good handling at any speed. Yes, you can save a few bucks going lower, but you will sacrifice some of the better aspects of your car.
While there is no law that I know of, some tire shops will not install a lower rated tire than called for. With no control over how you drive, they have potential for liability.
You consider it upselling, but I consider it getting the right tire for your car. My last car I put a set of Nokian WR3G with both a snow rating and a 149 MPH rating. Best tires I ever had. New car will get them when the OEM set is worn.
Tires are one of those products where you will have to trade off one aspect for another. The best tires are those that strike a delicate balance between noise, tread life, handling, braking, wet traction, and cost.
Since I drive Toyotas and Lexus, low noise is a high priority for me. Michelins have always been decent but pricey. General, Goodyear, Firestone, and several other tires have hit my shit list over the years. My good list is Michelin, Cooper, Bridgestone (meh) and most recently Continental.
My 2004 Toyota Avalon needed new tires because a belt broke on one of the tires and the rest of them were dry rotting. I did a lot of research and ended up buying Continental TrueContact tires from the online store Tire Rack. They are the #1 rated tires by both the customer reviews and testers. I ordered them on Wednesday and they arrived to my local garage on Thursday. The cost of the tires, shipping, and installation was less than the Michelins at Costco which were my other choice. Costco wouldn't give me an appointment till three weeks later so I didn't bother with them anymore.
The tires got installed yesterday so I don't have enough miles on them to give a decent report, but they are quiet, track true, and seem responsive. An Avalon is not a great handling car, but if you want quiet you can't get much better than that.
Check out Tire Rack for the test analysis and reviews. At least you'll get a better idea of what's available evenif you don't buy from them.
I just installed my Nokian Hakkapeliita R2 SUV tires on my Ranger. They are every bit as quiet as my Michelin Lattitude TTX summer tires and are rated as one of, if not THE best non studded winter performance tires.
I was stuck this time with a leak in the sidewall and had to git 'er done without the usual shopping around. I've had good luck with Firestone's store brand - always 40K miles plus so far - so I stuck with it.
Interesting.... my ex-usual Firestone shop changed managers and are not trying to up-sell everything, plus they lost their good mechanics. A few weeks ago I went in for some tires, and they upped the quote by about 25% with unnecessary crap, like warranties no never need. So I canceled the sale and got the same tires at another Firestone shop for the "real" price. I was impressed by the staff at this new shop and went back today and got the other 2 tires replaced.
I also was not confident the alignment at the first shop had been done right, so I asked the new shop to check the alignment and root around for any problems. Cost for that was only an extra $20. The alignment was close to what the original shop said for all except that the toe was way off. I asked if that could have changed in the short time - like if I had hit a pot hole, etc., and he said no, it normally just changes slowly with wear and tear.
I don't know about the toe wear period, but if I find out for sure that the first shop ripped me off, I'll be opening a can of whoop ass.
Too bad we sometimes don't know when someone has done a bad job until it has created a new problem later.
I was stuck this time with a leak in the sidewall and had to git 'er done without the usual shopping around. I've had good luck with Firestone's store brand - always 40K miles plus so far - so I stuck with it.
** Typo corrected **
Interesting.... my ex-usual Firestone shop changed managers and are _now_ trying to up-sell everything, plus they lost their good mechanics. A few weeks ago I went in for some tires, and they upped the quote by about 25% with unnecessary crap, like warranties no never need. So I canceled the sale and got the same tires at another Firestone shop for the "real" price. I was impressed by the staff at this new shop and went back today and got the other 2 tires replaced.
I also was not confident the alignment at the first shop had been done right, so I asked the new shop to check the alignment and root around for any problems. Cost for that was only an extra $20. The alignment was close to what the original shop said for all except that the toe was way off. I asked if that could have changed in the short time - like if I had hit a pot hole, etc., and he said no, it normally just changes slowly with wear and tear.
I don't know about the toe wear period, but if I find out for sure that the first shop ripped me off, I'll be opening a can of whoop ass.
Too bad we sometimes don't know when someone has done a bad job until it has created a new problem later.
Most tires are speed rated. Higher rating, made tougher so they will no blow apart at speed with rated load. Thus, higher speed rating, rougher ride. Also less flex for tighter cornering. Don't mix speed ratings.
Interesting that you choose Continentals as a "go-to" tire. I bought a 2002 Ford Escape new in 2002, and the Contis that were on it were the absolute worst tires I have ever owned. I couldn't take off from a standing stop without spinning them, and God forbid I tried braking hard on wet pavement. Even with the anti-lock system, I could almost guarantee a small amount of skidding. And the highway noise was totally unbearable. I put up with those tires until my first trip to Disneyworld (~330 miles each way) and could barely hear the radio. Those tires were changed out after only 2500 miles. Good riddance!
But, I bought a 2014 Escape new, and it also came with Contis, and after ~10k miles, they have very good traction and handling, and are acceptably quiet at all speeds and most roads (I don't care what you have on a vehicle, some roads are never going to quiet). Granted, there are probably a lot of improvements in suspension systems in 12 years, but I have to say, Continental seems to have improved their tires considerably, IMHAWO :-)
I haven't had to shop for new tires yet, but when I do, Continental will be a brand I will consider.
I'm been paying more attention to what kind of tire treads I see on the cars in front of me. Seems like most have 4-5 solid strips separated by narrow recesses, with narrow indentations in the strips running at 45 degrees. The tires I got are pretty much like that but have wider indents at angles. I definitely can hear the tire noise more than on other tires, but not enough to notice unless I'm going over 45 mph,
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